Disease focus

Specialty medicines

We currently focus on gastrointestinal, metabolic and other specialty diseases where we believe that the present standard of care is inadequate and where we believe that we have the resources to advance our peptide-based product candidates into the later stages of clinical development, including registration and, potentially, commercialization, while opportunistically considering partnership relationships that may arise. In addition, we are looking to focus our efforts on drug candidates that may qualify for orphan / rare disease status

Peptides have proven to be effective drugs in a number of different diseases, with a significant untapped potential across many therapy areas. We are committed to deliver innovation and life-changing impact for people suffering from some of these specialty and rare diseases.

Gastrointestinal (GI) diseases

Diseases of the digestive system affect multiple organs, including the esophagus, stomach, small and large intestines as well as the liver, gallbladder and pancreas. More than 180 GI diseases affect many millions of people.Some of these diseases have a high prevalence, such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but the majority of the GI diseases affect smaller patient populations. There remains a significant need for innovation, as most GI diseases are not served well by current therapies.We have a solid and advancing understanding of the molecular andcellular mechanisms dysregulated in GI diseases. Multiple regulatory peptides and secretory factors are produced by the gastrointestinal tract, and these represent high potential novel therapeutic targets.

*National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Opportunities and Challenges in Digestive Diseases Research: Recommendations of the National Commission on Digestive Diseases. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health; 2009. NIH Publication 08–6514.

Metabolic diseases

The world is facing a major obesity problem, increasing the prevalence of metabolic diseases, including diabetes. These diseases are associated with deleterious changes in the body’s ability to transform the food we eat into the fuel required to keep us alive. There is a complex interplay between the digestive system, liver, pancreas, endocrine system, body fat and muscle which, if altered, can result in the body having too much or too little of an essential element.Aside from diabetes, there are hundreds of metabolic diseases, many of which are very rare and with no therapy available.